


Dark Woods (Underfell one shot)

by OolongTeacup



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Abuse, Cages, Cannibalism, Chains, Circus, Collars, Deformity, F/M, Human-Monster War (Undertale), Original Character(s), Physical Abuse, Underfell Papyrus (Undertale), Underfell Sans (Undertale), Undertale Monsters on the Surface, dark themes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-15
Updated: 2020-02-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 07:08:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22729675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OolongTeacup/pseuds/OolongTeacup
Summary: Sans finds a circus in the dark woods and is captivated by what he finds there.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 28





	Dark Woods (Underfell one shot)

_“Deep, deep in the heart of the forest, there you’ll find a circus.”_

Night had fallen a long time ago, and the path through the trees was spotted with dim lights. Muted blues, purples, and yellows shone through the dead branches from their flimsy paper homes. Just ahead, at the end of the path, Sans could hear the delighted squeals and shrieks of humans over the crunching of leaves beneath his leather boots. Scowling, Sans pulled his fur-lined hood further over his face, to better hide his sharp teeth, his golden tooth. He knew he had to hide that he was a monster, and he begrudgingly shoved his skeletal hands deeper into the pockets of his black hoodie.

_“With its ringmaster, wide-eyed and ten meteres tall.”_

Sans looked around the forest clearing, at the faded purple and yellow striped tent erected in its center with lines of colored paper lanterns leading to its peak. Small concession stands surrounded it, leaking their smells to add to those in the clearing. Popcorn, spun sugar, blood and shit...

“Welcome! Welcome!” A human in a yellow pinstripe suit on wooden stilts approached Sans, smiling wide. Or was that just the paint on his face? “Welcome to the circus, my friend! We hope you stay awhile and enjoy yourself! Remember, the war is outside the forest, it doesn’t exist here!”

The human laughed maniacally and teetered on one of its stilts, almost losing its balance, before it meandered away, leaving Sans to scowl after him.

_“The performers are all cheerful, though their appearances are bizarre.”_

Sans shook his skull, wondering where that eerie song that made his vertebrae crawl was coming from. Few other humans wandered the grounds. None of them, save for the human on stilts, spoke to Sans as he passed. Sans could count maybe half a dozen other humans. All of them wore colorful outfits of purple and blue, with dramatic ruffles and poofs. Many of them had their faces painted with grotesque expressions of joy. They tumbled and rolled, jumped and twirled. He made an effort to avoid them.

Surprisingly, there were no humans attending the concession carts that dotted the outside of the main tent. Sans grabbed a cone full of cotton candy from a chain rack and ripped a large chunk of it out with his pointed teeth. Some of the spun sugar got caught on his gold tooth, and he scowled as he tried to dig it out quickly, before a human spotted his skeletal hand.

Why the hell would his brother send him to a place like this? How was Sans supposed to gather intelligence at a, what did the human call it, at a circus? What was he supposed to find here that could help the war efforts?

_“The Dark Woods Circus is just so much fun!”_

Sans threw the empty paper cone on the leaf strewn ground, adding to the litter of cups and wrappers already there, and entered the darkness of the tent. Whatever his brother’s reasoning for sending him to this place, Sans would have to do the job right, or risk punishment when he got home.

The inside of the tent held a dimly lit ring and many wooden benches. Sans found a spot, well away from the spotlight aimed at the center of the ring, and took a seat. The aged wood groaned under his weight, and before Sans could decide if he wanted to leave or not, the inside of the tent went dark.

_“Come see the two headed freak.”_

Sans’ skull snapped up as the spotlight came on again in a muted yellow, like candlelight, focusing on the center of the ring. He felt himself recoil in horror at the sight before him.

A human stood there, wearing a flowing, yellow dress with many ribbons and bows, but that’s not why Sans shrank in horror. This human had two heads. _Two._ One with long, black hair, the other with curled, brown hair. They both smiled and blinked independently from each other, and Sans knew that it was no trick.

What the hell kind of place was this? Not even monsters had two heads.

_“...and the wondrous siren…”_

Sans watched the light that illuminated the ring fade into a mysterious purple. The two headed human pulled on a long rope, and curtains at the back of the ring parted to reveal another human. Sans leaned forward in his seat. This one also wore a fluffy dress, colored purple and cut high to reveal her legs… but they were all wrong. This one’s legs were bent at backward angles, and they ended in _hooves_. The human blinked her overly large, offset eyes and pulled at the metal collar around her neck, then opened her mouth.

_“And watch as the blue beast eats dreadful things.”_

The music, that haunting melody he had been hearing ever since he walked the path in the woods, it was coming from her. Sans shivered, barely paying any attention to the cage the two headed human pulled out into the blue light of the ring. He was too focused on the one behind the curtain. Was it really human? Were any of them? They weren’t monsters, but if they weren’t human, what were they?

Sans crawled over his seat, wanting to get closer. These things couldn’t be real. Wait until he told Pap about the creatures the humans were hiding here.

_“We didn’t wish to be born into these bodies.”_

The music hummed with despair, clawing at Sans’ very soul. He shivered, hating that the noise made him so uncomfortable. Or maybe it was just the human in the cage, still lit up with blue light, chewing on a human foot…

_“Why are you looking at us like that? What a rotten face.”_

Sans jumped to his feet, his soul pounding in his ribs. That human with the backwards legs was staring straight at him. How could she see him in the dark?

The siren pulled at her neck again, at the collar there. Sans watched as blood trickled off the metal and onto her hands. Which, now that he looked, only had three fingers and a thumb… His own hand drifted to his throat, noting the absence of the collar that was usually there.

_“It’s agonizing, yes, it can’t help but hurt.”_

The cloth to the side of the siren’s place burst open. Two humans, ones that Sans had yet to see so far, stormed towards her. They were bald and wore sneers twisted even more by their missing teeth; they had manacles in their thick hands, scowls on their faces, and hatred in their eyes. Sans sank back into the shadows as he watched them push the strange human to the ground, shackling her. He listened to her cries of pain and the blows they rained on her. The threats they gave to her for not ‘sticking to the script’.

 _“And yet the circus goes on.”_ She sang as they chained her hands and hooved feet, tears running out of those large doe eyes and down her cheeks. _“It’s so fun, it’s so much fun, this circus is great. You can see it in our rotting faces, melting eyes, and festering skin.”_

One of the large humans struck out, and the siren fell to the floor. Sans watched as the other wrapped a muzzle on her face. They drug her out of the tent by her long, blonde hair, her head lolling in unconsciousness, while the performers from outside danced into the red light of the ring, their poofy outfits bouncing as they tried to distract him from the scene he had just witnessed.

Sans had seen enough. Ignoring the two headed human, the one in the cage, and the dancers, he stole back outside and looked for the siren. He spotted the two bald humans dragging her away into the dark of the trees and followed.

“Stupid fucking _whore!_ ” One of them shouted, throwing her into a cage. Sans stopped moving and hid behind the trunk of a tree. The other disappeared inside the cage, and Sans could hear the clanking of chains beneath the other’s shouting. “How many times have we told you not to go off script, huh? HOW MANY?”

The man lashed out and Sans heard a muffled squeal of pain.

“Lucky there was only one here tonight.” The other man said as he reappeared from the depths of the cage, twisting a padlock shut on the door. “If they talk, we can just say they was making up rumors.”

“No need.” The other said as the two humans looked into the cage. “She pulls another stunt like that, just one more, and I’m cutting out her tongue. HEAR THAT?!” He kicked at the bars, rattling them. “I don’t care how much money your voice makes, it’s your freakish deformity that makes us more!”

Sans watched the two humans go back to the tent and colored lights in the clearing. Rage boiled in his soul. How easy it would be to kill them, when they didn’t even know he was there…

Sobs trickled out from the bars of the cage, and Sans forgot his anger. He slowly approached them, tugging at his hood nervously as he looked inside. The light from the circus behind him just barely gave enough light to see by.

There she was, lying on a bed of straw in her tiny prison, her backward legs tucked beneath her like a hen. Her arms were in chains, pulling them out to her sides, and the inside of the cuffs were lined with cotton. Sans felt a little better, knowing that the humans were at least giving her some kind of comfort, until he spotted the scars crisscrossing her arms and deformed legs. Some were lines, like she had intentionally cut herself on her bondings, others were jagged, like she had used her own teeth to tear at her pale skin. And he had thought the muzzle was just to keep her from singing.

“What do you want?” The siren sniffed, glaring up at him, a bruise blossoming over her big, brown eyes and onto her forehead. Sans felt himself stiffen, he had thought that she wouldn’t notice him there. 

“I, uh,” Sans fidgeted with the inside of his pockets. He wanted to see if she was okay, but he wasn’t good with things like that.

“Come to get another look at the freak?” The siren spat bitterly, her voice muffled by her muzzle. “The show wasn’t enough? Come to gawk and point and tell me how _disgusting_ I am?”

“No.” Sans gumbled, hating himself for not being able to put his concerns into words. He tried to look at her face, but his red eye lights kept drifting back to the scars; to the collar and shackles and muzzle. 

“Don’t lie to me!” The siren hissed. “Just get it over with! Throw your shit, spit your insults, rattle the bars if you fucking want at the hideous monster but then GO AWAY!”

Sans growled, “What’s wrong with being a monster?”

“You tell me!” The siren growled back. 

Sans rolled his eye lights and pulled back his hood enough for the siren to get a good look at his skull. Her brown eyes widened and Sans, satisfied, pulled his hood back up.

“You’re a monster…?” The siren spoke a bit more gently, but her voice was still skeptical. “And what, you braved the war ‘cuz you wanted to see what a human freak looked like?”

“More like I wanted to see if you were conscious.” Sans grumbled. “I’m surprised you’re not screaming, anyway. Most humans do when they see a real monster.”

“Have you seen what I live with?” The siren rolled her eyes at Sans. He thought about the two headed human, about the siren herself, and agreed. “A talking skeleton isn’t exactly terrifying after you watch a cannibal eat. In fact, I think that’s an act the beast is working on. Dinner and a show, he calls it.”

Sans chuckled, appreciating the joke, but the chuckles died away as his eye lights went back to the scars. Back to the tiny soul fluttering in her chest, fluttering weakly like a bird with broken wings. “...Why do you live here?”

“Does it look like I have a choice?” The siren pulled at her chains, but to no avail. She sighed and let her arms hang in the air, suspended by her bonds. Sans eyed the collar on her neck, at the blood drying on it.

He didn’t know what to say. Of course she wouldn’t be here of her own will, what kind of stupid question was that? But he could help but feel his soul go out to her. Pap might be tough on him, really tough, but he was nothing like those two humans.

Sans held one of the bars in his boney hands, resting his skull against it. He wanted to say something, something that would make this human feel better. He could practically see her beautiful soul crying out in agony. Hell, he could _feel_ it when she sang.

“Did those humans do that to you?” He asked, pointing with his other hand at her legs. The siren glared at him.

“Mind your damn business, skeleton.”

Sans scowled, his temper flaring. All he wanted to do was see if the weird human was okay, she didn’t have to be a bitch.

Then again, after what those humans did to her… maybe she just needed a win. Hell, even Pap gave him a win once in awhile.

“I…” Sans shuffled nervously, feeling like his words were going to come out all wrong. Girls liked compliments, right? “I… like your eyes.”

The siren stiffened. Sans took this as a good sign.

“They kind of look like a doe’s eyes. All big and brown and pretty...”

Her hoofed foot came flying through the air, smashing his finger against the metal bar with a loud clang.

“Fuckin’ hell, woman!” Sans hissed and pulled his hand back.

“FUCK YOU!” She screeched through her muzzle, straining at her chains as she lashed out at the bars, tears streaming from those doe eyes. “How dare you! How dare you? HOW DARE YOU!?”

“It was a compliment!” Sans yelled at her as he nursed his crushed finger.

“Fuck your compliments!” The siren kicked at the bars, punctuating her sentences with clanging bars. “I know your type! I know what you’re doing! You’re going to say these sweet little nothings, then tear me apart with the truth! I KNOW THE TRUTH! I’M A DISGUSTING FREAK AND YOU CAN’T LIE TO ME!”

Sans backed away from the bars, watching the siren pull at her chains, straining to get at him. She pulled so hard, even the cotton padding couldn’t stop the manacles from cutting into her wrists.

“How dare you give me kindness.” The siren sobbed weakly, her voice muffled by her mask, her kicks weakening as despair settled in. “How dare you? How dare you?”

He didn’t know what to say. What _could_ he say? He wasn’t great at saying nice things. Even if he did, the siren would hate him for it.

Sans straightened up, steeling himself against the sobs coming from the cage, and walked back towards the circus tent with his magic buzzing murderously. If he couldn’t say anything, then fuck, he would _do_ something.

Behind him, slightly muffled from her muzzle, the siren’s song drifted out and floated through his skull, filling his soul with sorrow.

_“I want to die, I want to die, please get me out of here._

_But I feel as if someone told me that will never happen.”_

**Author's Note:**

> Just a one shot I wanted to get out there. I got a really great idea after listening to Dark Woods Circus and just had to do it. Hope you enjoyed, and thanks for reading! (Song by Vocaloid.)
> 
> Edit: Would anyone be interested if I made this into a series? I've had a few ideas to expand upon it, but I'm not sure if I should make this my next project or if I should work on the other stories I've got waiting for me... Let me know, I guess? Thank you!


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